The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) introduced multiple sweeping reforms for employer-sponsored group health plans. One provision of the reform, the gag clause prohibition, prohibits group health plans from entering contracts that restrict specific data and information that a plan can make available to another party. Essentially, the provision was designed to increase transparency by removing gag clauses on price and quality information.
The CAA requires insurers and group health plans to submit an attestation to the government that they comply with the it’s gag clause prohibition. Blue KC plans to make the attestation on behalf of as many groups as possible, which may require us to contact groups via survey to collect certain plan sponsor information.
Please make your groups aware that Blue KC may ask them to complete a survey or provide group information. Complying with these requests may save groups the hassle of submitting the attestation themselves.
For more details on this government mandates, see the official CMS information page: https://www.cms.gov/cciio/programs-and-initiatives/other-insurance-protections/gag-clause-prohibition-compliance